Nautical signal



(N'O'Moael.)V 1

f t M. WHITE. `IAUJTIQAL SIGNAL. Y No. 284,522. f l y Patented Sept. 4,1883.

'W'IZW'ESSES Y IJV VENTUR @www u UNITED STATES; PATENT' 01,#FICEg Nftnnnnrrrlvvnrrn, on ADAMS,,Mnssaciiusnrrsl i 1 NAuTlcALgslcNAL.

A `sianorrluarrorrmailing"para of Letters raient no. ,284,522, datedseptember 4, ieee;

aptnapnnied intrahepatic, (Nomad.) n n To all whom itu/tay cm1/cern,

V Adams, in the county of` Berkshire and State e of Massachusetts, haveinvented aneW and` e 3 5 useful Improvement in Methods andvAp'pa--"ratusfor Signals of i Vessels; and "I do hereby t declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description of the same, referencebeinghad to f the accompanying drawings, and to theA letters ro ofreference marked thereon. l

The object I have in view is to perfect the i present mode of signalingrequired by law', in use by steam or sailing vessels, to avoidcollisions; and it consists in a method of visual p indication by' nightor day ofthe courseproi posed to be followed by vessels approaching eachother head`on,77 and in the apparatus adapted for the ready display ofsuch visual indications.` I employ for this purpose in i 2osteam-vessels, in addition to the lights required by law, a centralwhite light or White signal, arranged preferably directly above thepilothouse, with a red light orred signal on the port side of saidcentral light or signal, and a `green light or green signal on thestarboard side of saidcentral light or signal, which lights n or signalsare operated by the occupants of the pilot-housefrom within thepilot-house in such a Way that the presentation to vieur of the h sowhite light 01" Signal and the fed light or Sig nal shows `the intentionof the signaling-vessel to present her port side to the approachingvessel in passing her, and, contrariwise, the

presentation tovieW' of the White `light or sig- 3 5 nal and the greenlight or signal shows the intention of the `signaling-.vessel to presenther `starboard side to the `approaching vessel in passing her.

For a better understanding of my invention,

" g4o reference should behad to the accompanying drawingsfin whichFigure l is a front elevation of the pilot-house of a steamer with thesignaling apparatus in position, and# Figs. 2 and 3 are details'of theapparatus.

` Similar letters denote corresponding parts in each figure. e,

A denotes the pilot-house, upon thereof of which is placed the signalingapparatus, com-- posed of a platform or base, B, preferably of 5o anoval form, and upon this is placed vertically a vane, C, with `Wings a,extending toward the boW of the vessel, a c2 extending at l rightanglesto the Wing a, and azwing,1a3,ex- Beit known that I,lviiannrrrVinrrn7 of `tending toward the stern of the vesselwhen in .anormal position and not signaling.l Both sides ofthe Wing aand the sides'of thevvings afc turnedtoward the bonT of the vessel are White, the`after side of the wing a r and `the -port sider of the wing c3 are red,and the after side of thewin'g a?" and the starboard side of 60 the Winga are green. A spindle, Dlpa ssing ldovvn through the center of the`vane Gand the base B, and through suitable bearings attached to theroof of the pilot-house, extends down `into the pilot-house, terminatingin a crank-arm or hand-Wheel, E, with a handle, E, within convenientaccess to the pilot 'or Wheelman, and said apparatus has any suitablestop or detent to arrest the rotationat the desired point.

Upon the base B, and directly in front of the Wing a, is placed theWhite light F, While on the port side of the VWing a3 is placed the redlight G, and on the starboard side of the VWinge3 is placed the greenlight H. i 75 When the pilot of the signaling -vessel Wishes to indicateto the approaching vessel the course he intends to pursue afterthe usualWarning Whistle, he turns, by means of the handle E', the vanes vandlights, so as to dis- 8o play in one instance only White and redsignals, f and in the other instance only White and green i signals,and, as before explained, the combi nation of the White with the redsignals indicates the intention of the signaling vessel to 8 5 presenther port side to the approaching vessel, and the combination of theWhite and green signals indicates the intention of pre- "senting thestarboard side to the approaching vessel. 9o

`It will be understood that the lights spoken `of will present thesignals in the night and the colors of the vane in the day.

` It Will also Vbe understood that the lights may be of any suitablecharacter-stationary or removable-electric lights beingpreferred .insteam-vessels. y

It is evident that this system or mode of signaling and substantiallythe same apparatus may be employed upon sailing-vessels, and may beplaced permanently or removably at or near the bow, or arranged to behoisted upon the foremast or placed at "the foremasthead. It isevident,` also, that these signal- IOO lights, in connection with thelightsnow required by law, will not tend to confuse, for the reasonthatthey are grouped so closely together. A l

The advantage of this systemis that it *con-v veys at once to each oftwo approachingves,

sels what its intended course is to be, which is not done by the systemof signals established by law. v

Having thus described myinvention7 what I claim as new therein is l. Thesystem of signaling for vessels,which i consists in the display ofcolored signals by night or day to indicate the intended course of thesignaling-vessel, which consists in the employment of a` central and twolateral signalsarranged above the wheel-house upon a platform or-baseadapted to be operated from the interior of the wheel-house, and whichplatform or base, when stationary, presents on ka front view only one ofthe signals, but when turned or viewed at an angle to the front presentstwo of the signals, substantially as de-y scribed.

2. ,The apparatus for signaling, eonsisting of three lights of differentcolors and a vane lof three different colors, saidvane having a front,rear, and two side wings, with the lights arranged, respectiyely, one atthe forward end of the front wing and one on each side of the rear wingupon a platform or base pivoted so 'as to be turned to present the twodesired col- 'ored signals by night or day, substantially as described.-

3.' A signaling apparatus consisting of three lights of different colorsand a vane of three different colors, said vane having a front, rear,and two side wings, with the lights arranged, respectively, one at theforward end ofthe front wing and one on each side of the rear wing upona platform or base arranged above the wheel-house, and adapted to beoperated by a K

